TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - August 27, 2025 - Storing Wisdom, Reaping Life

Episode Date: August 27, 2025

In today’s Morning Manna, we explore Proverbs 10:13-16 and uncover the contrast between wisdom and folly, preparation and destruction, righteousness and sin. Solomon teaches that the wise store up knowledge and guard their lips, while the foolish invite ruin with careless words. We also examine how true security is not found in riches but in walking in God’s ways, where righteous labor produces life and eternal reward. Join us as we dig into God’s Word and discover how wisdom builds while foolishness destroys.  Teachers:  Rick Wiles and Doc BurkhartYou can partner with us by visiting FaithandValues.com, calling 1-800-576-2116, or by mail at PO Box 399 Vero Beach, FL 32961.Get high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves!AmericanReserves.comIt’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. Now available in eBook and audio formats! Order Final Day from Amazon today!Amazon.com/Final-DayApple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books!books.apple.com/final-dayPurchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today.Sacrificingliberty.comThe Fauci Elf is a hilarious gift guaranteed to make your friends laugh! Order yours today!Trunews/faucielf

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Morning Manna. We're delighted to have you with us here for the next hour to study the Word of God. We're taking our time. We're not in a rush. Yesterday we spent the entire one hour on one verse. We may do a little bit better today. But again, we're not in a rush. We're just working our way through the Bible and mining as many gems and precious metals and rocks as we can find golden nuggets, whatever we find. That's what we're bringing to the surface every day so that all of us leave this class one hour later, blessed, knowing more about God and His kingdom than we knew at the beginning. And if you stay with us for the next hour, you will know more about God and His kingdom than you know right now. And I will do. And so, well, Doc, we'll all learn together. So we are in the 10th chapter. of Proverbs and we're going to pick up today at verse 13 through 16. Let's pray and welcome the Holy Spirit. Almighty God, our Father in heaven, thank you for this beautiful day. Father,

we invite your Holy Spirit to lead this morning man of Bible study and unveil to us the richest of your word. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Amen. And we are continuing our study in Proverbs chapter 10 picking back up today on verse 13 we were only able to get through one verse yesterday as Rick said we take our time and we glean for as much as we can from the word we don't want to rush through it at all so we welcome you no matter where you are in the world from folks from the Philippines to Switzerland to Russia Malaysia Brazil is here today God bless you I think Ireland and the UK are here as well and so we love to have having you here and across, and of course, all our friends across the U.S. and Canada, God bless you.

Picking back up at verse number 13th, day chapter 10, reading through 16. In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding. Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. The rich man's wealth is a strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty. The labor of the righteous tended to life. the fruit of the wicked to sin god bless the reading of his word today all right amen once again those contrast here as we uh move to uh chapter 10 and we're going to be looking at those contrast and and how looking at the opposites help us learn a little bit about both that contrast is in

verse 13 yes in the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found and then the contrast but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding let's start with the first part the lips of him that has understanding understanding discernment what is what is understanding biblically it is the ability to apply the wisdom of God in practical ways. It's not enough to just to know the wisdom of God, to possess it. You have to have understanding.

Understanding is the ability to implement the wisdom. Understanding is the tool to use. what you have acquired which is wisdom so the lips the lips of a person reveal the heart and when understanding dwells within wisdom flows outward in that person's speech a wise person's speech is not shallow or boastful it's measured it's weighty it's fruitful And a wise person speaks with words that are seasoned with grace. Have you ever thought about seasoning your words? You know, when you eat food, you can eat it plain, bland.

And it may be delicious just as it is. I mean, there's really nothing you have to put on a strawberry, right? But let's face it, Scotch bonnet sauce does wonders. Yes, or whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. But we season our food. And it brings out the flavor. our words should be seasoned with grace and our words should build up other people

rather than tearing them down we all have to work at this I know I do I can I can say something to somebody if somebody's rude and nasty to me I can come back so fast with, put them in their place, but that's not the Lord. That's not the Lord.

That's Rick, okay? Because I'm like, you know, I'm going to put you in your place. I'm not going to deal with that. I have to ask the Lord, how would you respond? What would you say? That's letting your words be seasoned with grace. So the words of the wise, the words of those with understanding, guide other people. They become a compass in those people's lives to point them in the right direction.

Wisdom on the lips brings life, brings goodness, brings peace. brings safety stability now the wise person doesn't the wise man or the wise woman doesn't speak constantly but when he does his or her words carry authority and value

often you can discern Often, you can discern the wisest person in a group simply by measuring how few words he or she speaks. Wise people withhold their opinions. They gather information. They process. They ponder before they speak. And if they have nothing of value to add, they usually don't say anything. The lips of the wise reflect the fear of the Lord because that's the beginning of wisdom.

So wisdom plus understanding is practical. And it provides good. Godly counsel for families, for work, for relationships, for every aspect of life. But what about the person who does not have understanding? The second part of this verse, verse 12, says, but a rod, this is verse 13 isn't it? But a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding. A rod. So here's the contrast that Doc talked about.

Those who lack discernment, understanding. What's understanding? Knowing how to apply the principles of wisdom in practical ways. Those who lack understanding cannot be corrected by words. They only respond to discipline. Do you have a child or a grandchild? No matter, no amount of reasoning with them works. The only thing they understand.

is punishment it's a strong-willed child and and they're challenging because you have to you have to measure that punishment in a way that you don't crush their spirit right or that you're acting out of anger or you know out of frustration or anything like that that it's punishment not not revenge that's right you know there's a lot of parents that take it way too far and but but yeah there's there's something about the rod if you will that people respond to they won't respond to sometimes to logic they won't respond sometimes to reason they won't even respond sometimes to the benefits of receiving something. Sometimes they have to have the negative impact. That's why we have

prisons. Yes. You know, my son Jeremy, when he was a child, you know, Doc, if I said, here's the line, don't cross that line. He would get right up to the line and look at me and go, is this the line? It's like, is my toenail? over the line you know i mean he he would test it what he was doing he was testing me would i enforce the line that's what many times that's what the child is looking for will you enforce your words they're testing you they just want to know will you back up what you say so a person who is void of understanding means that person is empty, hollow, without discernment.

Unable to grasp, receive, process, understand wisdom when it's presented. Yes. So in this verse, the rod, the rod represents chastisement. does not necessarily mean a physical rod right it means chastisement and that can be chastisement by humans or by god himself divine chastisement so where wisdom's words cannot penetrate discipline must compel obedience the fool despises instruction therefore only pain awakens him to reality

Doc you have been in sales like myself we both sold advertising at some point in our lives radio, television, whatever What were we taught about the sales? There's two major motivations of why people make a decision. Well, I don't know exactly what two things that you're looking for,

but I would say the benefits or the negatives. There you go. That's it. The gain or the pain. Right, the gain or the pain. There you go. I like that. It's the gain or the pain.

You make a decision because you think, this decision, I am going to gain something. Or you make a decision because you say, I am going to avoid pain. Right. So let's say, take Zig Ziglar, for instance, who, you know, one of best sales trainers that ever lived, he sold cookware for a number of years, he would make the presentation that the food that you're eating now doesn't taste good and it's not healthy, right? because of the pots that you're using and so that's that's the pain side of things you you are

experiencing lackluster food and unhealthy food because of what you're cooking your food in and so but the cookware that he was selling it would make your food taste better and it would be healthier for you because you're not getting the chemicals or the teflon or whatever it might be coming from the old pots and pans that you've been using. So you've got your gain. I mean, you got your pain and you got your gain. So that's right. Doc, flip over to Proverbs 263. Okay. Because this proverb dovetails with Proverbs chapter 10 verse 13. Proverbs 263. All right. Hang a second here. Pages sticking together. 263. A whip for the horse. A bridle. for the ass and a rod

for the fools back whip for the horse a bridle for the ass and a rod for the fools back okay so some people just choose to put themselves on the level of a horse or donkey

like it's not it's not the Lord's desire to to discipline that person but the fool is acting on the level of a horse or a donkey now that ought to be

enough right there to say you know what I'm just not going to let that happen in my life you know that I'm I've lowered myself to the place I'm on the level of a donkey although it seems like a lot of

people are at that stage yes you're right so what's the contrast a teachable heart those are the two a soft pliable teachable heart or a stone hard heart one one grows by words and the other grows by blows upon their backs that's a tough way to go through life you know people say i feel so beat down well you might want to stop and think about it yes okay are you you taking blows on your back because you have a hardened heart so a person who is void of understanding is not only ignorant of wisdom ignorant of the ways of god of godly living in this life but that person is resistant and proud and unwilling to learn that that that last one that one really baffles me yeah i can get the proud part i get that but unwilling

to learn and i know people who are like that and i've known people throughout my life they just they have a narrow mind it's a their minds are very narrow very rigid everything's black and white they don't like new ideas they don't like new food they don't like to go anywhere they don't like other people they just like it this way you know anybody like that their their world is very narrow and i feel sorry for them they're sad because the world is so big there's so much to see and do and learn And they go through life and they're in this little narrow track. They put the blinders on themselves.

And when the Lord uses people to pull the blinders off, they get angry and they pull the blinders tighter. No, I'm only going to look this way. I don't want to see anything else around me. I don't want to go visit anything. I don't want to travel. I don't want to go to that food. I don't want to taste that food.

I you know people like that I don't like that I don't taste it okay all right now I don't want to go there you know I'm not going to go to a new I don't want to travel overseas a bunch of foreigners live over there they're all foreigners they're all foreigners so no they're just narrow minded and they're often bigoted it they're not gracious people all right and they're not generous you also find these people are not generous right what were you going to say doc well I was going to ask a question here about this verse we're reading the first half of this verse that says you know the one that has understanding will find wisdom wisdom is found so it seems to imply that understanding is required first before you have wisdom because there's the second half of the verse here here someone has no understanding therefore if he has no understanding he has no

wisdom either so i guess the question would be i kind i already know the answer uh somewhat because scripture tells us how do you get understanding before you get wisdom and is that something you ask god for first lord help me understand uh or like lord help my unbelief i mean what what would you suggest is the process here understanding is always in the bible after wisdom and but here it's before wisdom yes but this is talking about a wise person but the one that's void of understanding no can't access wisdom yes because they don't seek wisdom. So is seeking the first part of understanding? No, the first part, the first part is the fear of God. Fear of God's beginning of wisdom. Okay. Yes. All right. So, so these people that lack understanding don't fear God. They can be religious. There's no no doubt about it. They can go to church

every week, you know, they can be deacons, Sunday school teachers, whatever. But they really don't fear God. And therefore they don't seek wisdom. And because they don't seek wisdom, they don't have understanding. And at the heart of it is pride. Right. They don't need to seek wisdom because they know it all. Well, in that in that same verse where it says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the second half of that verse, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. The knowledge of the holy. And the knowledge of the holy can only come by divine revelation. yes I mean us asking God God show yourself to me and don't we all begin in that place God show yourself yes remember when you responded to that voice and for me it was that night

Thanksgiving nights 1979 where I walked outside and said God just who are you is that that's the beginning there yes the voice that was called my name where I and I truly I was lacked wisdom and understanding I was as I say you know as a blind goose and a windstorm I was lost you come to that realization that you know absolutely nothing and God knows everything yes but I didn't know who I didn't know who was calling my name in fact I was getting frustrated with it and I But the last time, this is 1978, so the last time I said to him, okay, you've said my name many times, now say your name.

I want to know who you are. Identify yourself. Reveal yourself, yes. Yeah, review. And then he went silent. And I don't remember how long that was, whether it was months or anything. And I thought, well, I showed him not to mess with me. you know i called him out and said reveal yourself i had no idea who it was none was i've never ever thought this is god speaking to me i thought i was a space alien that's how dumb i was but you knew it was something greater than you yes something bigger than you something outside

something coming from the sky at night but then afterward he gave me a dream and the dream scared the you know what out of me and on that morning i i susan had already started going to church and she asked me if i wanted to go to church i said yeah she was shocked well what happened week after week after week i was going to that church and that preacher was preaching the word and i didn't go there to hear the word i went there to find out who is is this voice talking to me. I thought, I thought, well, at this point, I don't know who I can ask,

maybe these goofy Christians will know. But at the same time, I was involved in what was called the futurist movement. It was very new age. I didn't know what new age was. It was a futurist movement about the future. And I was, I mean, I was being introduced to people at the of that movement by Alvin Dauffler.

And Doc, they were telling me, oh, Rick, you're being moved into a new consciousness. You're in the forefront of evolving. Wow. That's cool. That's cool. I'm evolving. I'm tired of being a monkey. Yeah.

Wait to I tell my friends. Wait to I tell my friends. I'm evolving, you know. but I was trying to figure it out. And then Jesus revealed himself to me. And I realized it was God who was speaking to me, okay? I look back, Doc, and I think, I mean, but for the grace of God.

Yes. For the grace of God, there go I, it's like, what if I had not responded? What if I had not submit it to him but i did submit and um and and and so this what this is talking about is having soft pliable hearts or hardened hearts and see you can have unsaved people can have soft hearts those are the ones god reaches the easiest it's the hardened hearts that is so difficult to reach because it's it's like you know gardening or or farming

soil that's just packed solid you know it's just hard it's dry you can't you can't get to shovel into it and the plow bounces along the surface it's not even penetrating the soil it's hard that's what hearts are like the word of god is trying to get in and it's bouncing off of it like a plow so the person who is a void of understanding his fate is not to be adorned with godly wisdom but to be humbled by divine correction let's see what some of the the old commentators the old bible scholars had to say about this uh albert barnes he was born in 1798 he said where wisdom is it shows itself in speech where it is not punishment not instruction is the only remedy

Alexander McLaurin, one of my favorites. He was born in 1826. He said, words suffice for the wise. Blows are needed for the fool. To be incapable of profiting by words is to be sunk in brutish folly. Wow. all right verse 14 like that kind of phrase there lost in brutish folly yeah McLaren uh he was a real eye opener to me I um the Lord some years ago

I first I first discovered G Campbell Morgan Doc I thought I had found a buck of gold nuggets i remember that i was like oh man i found these i bought those one old book from the early 1900s by g campbell morgan i just thought i had discovered a gold mine gold mine and then in one of those and i and i bought more books by by campbell morgan there's george campbell morgan and in one of those books, he mentioned Dr. Alexander McLaren. And I realized, oh, he studied

McLaren. And they actually, I think he knew him, personally knew him. Because Campbell Morgan died around 1940 and McLaren died around 1910.

But they were, you know, I think a young Campbell Morgan met McLaren and I thought wait a minute I got who's Alexander McLaren so then I started looking for old books by him and it and then I went to another level and this is the way I find books I look I search in these old books for these men of God to mention other teachers that they studied right and I just keep working my way back and eventually you end up hey's Jesus I made it all the way back to

Jesus right because it's just a line of secession where they've been being taught by the Lord through various men and women through the years so verse 14 wise men lay up knowledge but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. To lay up, we know what that means. It means to store, to treasure, to stockpile, to preserve. Right. They lay up knowledge. Now think about this.

The wise man or woman stores knowledge, preserves it, stockpiles it, like a precious resource. right it plans ahead for the need of wisdom later you know back when I was a kid there'd be this time of year that my grandmother would be stocking up the cellar okay yeah yeah harvesting everything out of the garden all the tomatoes and green beans and all that and they'd be and there'd be four or five pressure cookers on the stove and can and stuff why because they were preparing they had been taught to prepare for winter that's right and preparation storing up laying up if you will treasure it requires planning in advance thinking in

advance you don't need those green beans today but come mid-december those green beans might be looking pretty good uh that's right if you didn't have any green beans and so uh so wisdom if you will laying up wisdom means gaining wisdom now for what you will use later that's right my my job doc as a child was to carry those canned jars of fruits and vegetables carry them down the steps into the basement you know we didn't call the basement it was a cellar right they get down into the cellar and they were wooden shells all over the cellar and that was my job to carry carry the jars down the steps and place them in the shelving so your parents my grandparents they stored up things for future use the wise man or woman stores knowledge for future use

they treat wisdom and knowledge and understanding as a precious commodity that can't should not be wasted taken for granted would that therefore imply that we need to learn about the future or we need to prepare for the future that's interesting knowledge in preparation for the future i would say yes that's a really good insight i have it once in a while For the last several nights at home, I've been watching scary videos on social media about where AI is going. And I'm not talking about people that are just rambling, you know, saying what they think it's going to be. I'm talking about people in high levels of technology. You know, like Mr. Hinton, the father called, he's called the father of AI.

I watched one last night with him. Oh, Doc, should not have watched that before going to sleep. Yeah, ever since he said AI should become our mother at that AI conference, I'm like, keep my eye on Mr. Hinton here. So I'm saying that because of what you just, said about knowing the future i'm realizing okay i've got to store up wisdom and knowledge and understanding to deal with a future that's coming that i don't particularly like yeah and i feel like i'm doing that now in my own life i'm i'm doing that i'm gaining knowledge like that to prepare for

the future so wise men and women are not content with surface knowledge they gather they search they find they meditate on they ponder and they store truth and where where do you store it deeply within your heart your heart becomes the storehouse for this wisdom and knowledge they don't store it let me rephrase this it's not hoard it right it's stored is there's a difference in hoarding and storing right with hoarding it's just an accumulation of stuff but storing requires planning you know organization thinking about what you're going to need you know when you're down and Grandma's down in the cellar and she's looking at the shelves, she said, you know what, we really don't have enough root of Vegas here. We need to take care of that because I don't want to run out of root of Vegas come January.

And so she makes a plan to take care of that. At that point, she's not worried about the peaches, the green beans, the radishes, anything like that. At that point, she said, where you're lacking in this area. And the wise person will discern where they lack wisdom. and seek to fill that gap in first from the word and then compare that word to what's knowledge that we gain from the world you're right doc and hoarding also implies selfishness absolutely i'm hoarding if you hoard is to keep somebody else from getting it if you store that's a people who

store say well i'm going to have plenty for myself and plenty to share with others but people who hoard say i i'm getting all i can get from me and i don't care about anybody else so it's not hoard it but it's it's reserved it's reserved for proper use at the proper time see wisdom knows when to speak and when to be silent laying up knowledge requires self-discipline just as doc was describing you're thinking through what am I going to need this future that's coming at us this AI brain what do i need to know what am i what do i need to have in my heart that's going to help me get through this time until christ comes or or i leave this world what am i going to impart to children

and grandchildren great what am i going to impart to them for for them who are growing up in this new world right why is people listen more than they talk they know that knowledge is a treasure wisdom and knowledge are treasures it's a wealth but it's not measured like we measure gold for money knowledge is stored it's it's guarded it's truth that's kept in the heart And accumulation is steady. Wise men and women build up knowledge and wisdom and understanding gradually. They don't just have, they just don't binge.

They're well, the next month, I'm just doing wisdom. What are you going to do the second month? Foolishness? No, they build gradually. And you know how you do that? Line by line, precept by precept. just what we're doing in morning manna we're taking our time we're just we're walking through this harvest field called proverbs chapter 10 and we're taking our time we're not rushing through

it we're we're gathering and we're storing see if i rush through this lesson you're going to forget most of it. Therefore, you're not going to store it. But if I take my time and we think about this, you have time to store it. It's like

people that eat their meal too fast. Well, you didn't taste it. You just gobbled it. You have to take time to enjoy a wonderful meal.

The same way with the Word of God. Take your time. Digest it. Get out of it all that you can get. So wisdom is a lifelong pursuit. It's not a one-time acquisition. You don't say, well, yeah, back there in 2010, I got wisdom that year. No, it's every year, every month, every day.

we're seeking wisdom we're gaining more wisdom you should be wiser tomorrow than you are today amen and then as you have the words stored in your heart you can give right counsel at the right time and your words will be seasoned with grace but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction the fool is quick to speak careless in words and exposes himself for herself to ruin doesn't say they are ruined it says they're near destruction they expose themselves to the possibility of being destroyed as a business As a business person, you'll ask yourself or your accountant, your lawyer, what's my exposure to this problem? Somebody may advise, you know, you should take out an insurance policy. You have exposure to this particular problem. Okay.

I want to know how am I exposed? Where am I at risk? the fool exposes himself or herself to the possibility of being destroyed doesn't say they will be destroyed but they put themselves in a position of being destroyed I mean in business you can you can make foolish decisions and you can you can put yourself in a position that your business is destroyed how do fools do it with their mouth their mouth is uncontrolled and it becomes the instrument of their downfall the wise man or woman lays up stores preserves wisdom and knowledge quietly silently but the fool spews out his or her foolishness quickly near destruction but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction this implies that the fool's mouth brings him or her

continually to the brink of destruction of being ruined their words create strife and division confusion their words expose their ignorance and their words invite judgment that's how they bring themselves near ruin their ruin is self-inflicted but the wise preserves knowledge and wisdom the fool babbles without understanding

but here's the problem the fool's mouth not only harms himself or herself but endangers the people around them that's the unfortunate side of things. That's why you run from fools. Get away from them. There are people you have to put distance between you and them. Yeah, you have to avoid them. It's not that you think you're better than them. Because none of us without Christ can do anything. you have to make a decision that some people just being in their presence is risky

that they're foolish and you don't want to get that stink on you it's contagious the nearness of destruction warns us that ungoverned speech is never harmless Proverbs 18, 21, we're going to study that sometime this year. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Right. Well, Proverbs 133 says, He that keepeth his mouth, keepeth his life. He that openeth wide his lips, shall have destruction. Well, those verses really cry out to you, don't they?

Yes. Watch your mouth, folks. That's why it's a challenge for me. I mean, I'm telling you, three things that a fool does. A fool talks when he should be silent. He argues when he should listen, and he brags when he should learn. That was worth the price of admission today. There's three ways to discern who a fool is.

They're talking when they should be listening. they're arguing when why I should say they talk when they should be silent they argue when they should listen and they brag and boast when they should be learning so you got that contrast a doc talked about earlier wisdom saves by storing knowledge foolishness destroys by spewing words without care. All right, let's go to the old commentators. We'll go back in time, Matthew Henry. Well, he was like the gold standard of Bible commentators.

I thought probably every preacher in the world has a Matthew Henry book in their library. yes he said and Matthew Henry was born in 1662 what did they know about the word back then in 1662 he said wise men are still laying up knowledge not proud of what they have but still desirous of more but the foolish talk at random without consideration and so bring upon themselves speedy destruction. Adam Clark, he was born in 1762, he said the wise treasure up knowledge

for time, place, and person. But the fool blurts out everything he knows or thinks, and by his rash talking, is near destruction. Charles Bridges, born 1794, the wise man lays up

knowledge as a store for future use. The fool, careless of his words, is his own destroyer. His mouth is ever ready and therefore ever near destruction. Albert Barnes born 1798, the wise do not throw away what they know in idle talk. They store it up. The fool shows all his mind at once, and that is to his own. own hurt. One more.

Alexander Bichler, I'm born 1826. True wisdom hordes in silence. Folly, unable to hold his tongue, runs to ruin by his own words. Wow. I'm looking forward to meeting these people someday. We're all going to be together someday. Okay, I got two more verses here.

The rich man's wealth is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty. In ancient times, a strong city meant security, law and order, military safety, protection. So the word says that wealth, and we're talking about material wealth. This isn't, you know, some nebulous concept about spiritual. This is about money, about land, about being wealthy. So Solomon's making this observation. He's saying, look, the rich man, his wealth is his strong city.

Yes. It's making a statement. It's absolutely true. yes and he was the richest man who's ever lived Richard in comparison to Bill Gates to George Soros to Elon Musk to all these people he's the richest man who ever lived so wealth

functions as a shield and it provides resources in times of famine it provides legal defense it provides influence it protects from hardship If you're wealthy, these things don't hurt you. Even in a famine, a rich person has the money to buy whatever food is available because it will be sold to the highest bidder.

But there's a problem with wealth. It gives the rich man or woman confidence in themselves. See, that's their downfall. Their wealth is a strong city. It does protect them. And yet, at the same time, it's their weakness. It's a strong city in this life.

But it cannot shield them from death and judgment and the wrath of God. So if it's perceived wrongly, used wrongly, it is not a stronghold. It becomes a trap. But in this world, wealth is a stronghold. I mean, a city of strength. No doubt about it. There is no wealthy person that would give up their wealth to be poor.

But a lot of poor people would give up their poverty to be rich. so there is truth in this that wealthy people don't worry about things that poor people worry about they have the money and the influence of power to get things done amen but the destruction of the poor is their poverty here's the contrast say we have wealthy and poor and poor poverty poverty leaves a person exposed they have no defenses poor people are vulnerable to hunger neglect despair oppression their destruction of the poor is their poverty this is not just a lack of money but this is a lack of resources and a lack of opportunities. And when there's a lack of resources and opportunities,

that can crush the spirits of a poor person. Because they're trapped and they can't get out of it. Poverty hinders education. It hinders and limits influence. It breeds cycles of hardship. Generation after generation, after generation remains poor. I thank God for this country, America,

where our heritage has been, it doesn't matter how poor you are, if you have the willpower, you have the grit, you're willing to work, you can break out of your poverty. But there's very few people who do it. Why is it called their destruction? because it drags a person down into misery

and despair and dependence. This is not, this proverb is not justifying oppression against the poor. It's simply a statement about the harsh reality of life. Like this is the way it is. It's not God's desire.

you know why i'll tell you why because the word in proverbs 14 and psalms 72 it tells us that god himself cares for the poor and he defends them yes because he knows that they have no defense the rich have their wealth as their strong power but the poor have nobody so poverty poverty is not eternal ruin it can be a miserable life in this world

but there are many people who are poor and are saved in Christ Charles Bridges said wealth rightly used may be a strong city giving influence and means of good, but it is a false trust if relied on. Poverty is often the destruction of the poor, yet poverty with God is safer than wealth without him. Alexander McLaren, the rich man dreams that his wealth is impregnable as a fortress. The poor man

feels that his poverty is like a rifted wall through which enemies poor both are half truths wealth defends poverty destroys but both ignore the higher truth that god alone is the true defense amen all right i'm going to try to get through i am going to speed up and rush through verse 16 the labor of the righteous tendeth to life the fruit of the wicked to sin so labor here is not just physical work but our, the entirety of our activity and efforts in life. It speaks of labor. It's everything that we're doing, okay?

Righteousness, righteous work is fruitful, and it produces outcomes that promote life and blessing and goodness, and it flourishes. and the labor of the righteous is guided by their integrity and they have godly motives and work they work they do their work as done unto the Lord as in Clauseans chapter 3 so every righteous effort even the smallest effort contributes to life in God and not just survival. And the righteous are the ones who build communities. They build families. Everything is blessed because of them. But the fruit of the wicked is sin. That's the contrast. You see the

contrast? The labor of the righteous leads to life, tends to life. But the fruit, the increase The productivity of the wicked leads to sin. See, it doesn't mean that the wicked are not productive. They are productive, but what they produce leads to sin. Their prosperity becomes fuel for more rebellion against God. And whatever they achieve, it's not a blessing, but it leads to deeper corruption of themselves and the people that are connected to them. So their fruit is poisoned.

It looks like edible fruit, but it's toxic and it's rotten. The more they prosper, the farther they drift from God. And even when they appear to be successful, they're actually enslaved. themselves and they're producing death rather than life all right doc I think we better let's see what Alexander McLaurin said the righteous however toilsome their path the righteous however toilsome their path find their labor blossoming into life the wicked

however abundant their fruit find it ripening into sin And then Charles Bridges said, the righteous live for God, therefore all their labor tends to life. The wicked live for self, and therefore their fruit tends only to sin. Each man's work is stamped with his character. All right. That's it. We're over our time limit. That's it, folks. That's all you get today. That's it. Yeah, we need to porky big at this point. and i'll say that's all folks okay i hope you've had a good meal today and that's one of the word

a lot of good information a lot of practical wisdom today uh as we explore the word of god see the word of god isn't just talking about some sort of spiritual level that uh you know only the super holy can reach it deals with practical applications of divine living moment to moment And so I hope that's what you take away from today's lesson, is that understanding that leads to wisdom, that leads to life changes for you. Appreciate you being here, and we encourage you to come join us again for the live edition Morning Manna, atm, Eastern Time on faith and values.com. If you're watching this on another outlet, another platform, we encourage you, if you're able to, to join us live each weekday morning. you're able to interact with others that are here usually between three and

400 people each day from all around the world are with us live asking questions making comments and making connections with one another as we explore the Word of God together we invite you to be a part of that Rick any final words before we sign off for today other than my book I was just going to ask. Megafire is supposed to come off the printing presses on Friday and we'll be in trucks on their way here. Should be here and also on Amazon, probably on Amazon in about two weeks.

And then the other thing is, you know, we're at the end of the summer. We're at the last days of August. And we could use a boost in financial giving. Those of you who I'm not saying this to those who have already given in the month of August. But if the summer has gone by and you got busy and you forgot to sow something into the kingdom, we need your support. I'll just leave it at that. We need your support. So those of you who are able to give and willing to give, then please go to faith and values.com and do donate.

You can still do it over at true news.com or put a check or money order in the mail and send it to us. But we need a boost as we end this summer. Yes. And here in a few days, we'll be making announcements about pre-sales on the book and everything. It's not ready yet. That's not ready yet, but just giving you a heads up that. you know, you can get your orders made in advance for the book, both just to have it delivered and we're also going to be offering signed copies, too.

Oh, now, Christine has read Final Day more than I have. She's reading it for the 17th time. Really? Well, you could teach it then, Christine. So we'll go down to Lambert's and throw some rolls and talk about Final Day. There we go. She lives in Ozark, Missouri, so I know. oh okay

where she's at so praise God all right well we appreciate you being here today we invite you to be back here Thursday morning bright and early 8 o'clock here on faith and values.com

God bless you, we love you and we'll see you then